Unreasonable Demands

Blogging is a bitch. I don't like it. Usually blogging is for blurting out a diatribe on text- while- you- drive- millennials, relationships or Drones! I would like to take this opportunity to ventilate a little bit on what I've noticed around the community where I live known as Jamaica Plain.

In the five years that I have been here, there have been significant changes in this community. High-Low Foods goes out and Whole-Foods comes marching in, 203 is being torn down and 'gentrification' is the word of the decade. I am part of the changes that have come through this part of Boston and I can't exactly say that I am proud of all of it. I have been privileged enough to meet many different artists in JP and I am getting increasingly alarmed as to how many of them are leaving. 

The influx of people moving here is due in large part because the 'coolness' factor of JP is understandably high. When people come here and see all the cool and creative types and say to themselves "Hey! Let's move here!", well that's fine. More people means more funding for schools, roads and sidewalks get improved, places to shop and eat become more interesting that is all fine. What bothers me is that when people move here because of the artists and the vibe of the place and don't SUPPORT those very elements that benefit this community.

It's simply not good enough to go to the Wake Up the Earth Festival, held annually the first weekend in May, the Lantern Parade, held every October, the JP Music Festival, 5th of its kind this year!, and the second JP Porchfest on July 11, just because it's something "To Do!" These are activities that take a huge amount of effort and logistics to work out FOR the people of this community and the town. These are activities that HAVE TO BE SUPPORTED for them to continue. They are unique for this part of the City of Boston and they are the reasons, amongst others, why people choose to live here. These very elements, if not supported, will disappear because the people who live here and create them are not being invested in. Or not enough.

This is where Ransom Note Productions can help.

RNP is going to be covering the JP Porchfest on July 11 AND the JP Music Festival in September. These musicians and artists will be interviewed and profiled on the Ransom Note Podcast for promotion. Blogs (ugh! just the word) will be written, videos will be shot and edited and promoted on social media platforms. You will see us rambling around JP over the next several months with cameras and crews, filming scenes, interviewing people and artists and bands. 

All of this is for the eventual production of a Rockumentary (a documentary that's filled with kick ass music) about our fabled, neighborhood music venue, The Midway Cafe, called Live At The Midway. This is a film that promotes the Arts, the musicians that live here that strive to survive. Check out the site, show your support by volunteering, donating or sponsoring. 

The time is NOW for something like this. RNP invites you to look at this landing page about the film and to listen to the bands on our podcast. You'll find that these men and women have a tremendous amount in common with you and a good majority of the world. I will be filming them and giving them killer footage of their performances that will last forever. It is my hope that you will support these musicians, this project and this community.

Thank you and I'll see you around the town.

RNP.

Ransom Note Productions' focus is documenting the production of artists' creativity online throughout their communities. RNP is now gearing up to shoot a show for a band in JP for iTunes, their audience and social media platforms, that is a parody of those that you see on E! or VH1's Behind the Music. It's THESE very ideas that RNP brings to light. A funny, artistic, poignant perspective on art and music! Why Not? 

It gives me great pleasure to also announce the coming of our new Podcast 'The Ransom Note'. Here you can listen to artists and musicians of all forms and nationalities in a crystal clear digital audio format. Right in your car, in your home - anywhere. Our first guest will be a local from Boston, a Cambridge, home town hero on June 11th. A person of respect and a musician of grit and integrity. He's cool, well read, honest and understanding. Totally unassuming and unpretentious. That's the kind of musician and artist we all should strive to be, so stay TUNES.

I went to TT the Bears Club on Sunday night and listened to a husband and wife duet called 'The Wrong Shapes'. They performed at an impromptu Soiree I held at my house last March. Their sound is of Cello, performed by Rachel, that is so powerful, it's as if it were being performed in a decommissioned World War 2 Submarine used as a reverb chamber... - and guitar by Bo, lending itself as a scalpel to intrinsically slice through this "wall of sound cloud" with pin-like precision and grungy, yet careful, guitar riffs. Lyrically, you have to be on a whole other plateau. Striking imagery reminicent of Nick Cave, beat poetry, dark and goth-like. Heard in one of their songs' chorus recently released "Gasoline Can"- "Now you're running 'cross the land, gasoline can in your hand, burning bridges- just like you said you would."  "Folclassigoth" is how I would describe it. (Perhaps a new genre....)

So, I will be attending the Bar Wars event at The Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain tonight (6/2/15) where the wait staff and bar tenders of various JP Cafe's and Watering Holes assemble a band and perform to raise money for the JP Music Festival. It's a pretty awesome idea for a wicked good cause when you think about it. Anyway, that will be around 8 pm so if you're around, why don't you stop by and we can talk about Folclassigoth, World War 2 Submarines and Scalpels...

Rock out,

RNP.

I feel sorry for Cambridge.

When you have announcements of T.T the Bears Place closing and then Weirdo Records folding within a week, you know this is a sign of the times. 

When I first came to Boston in the Fall of 1998, Cambridge was only just beginning to feel the squeeze. Star Market was still THE place to shop, Central Square was drab and dark and I still kick myself for not eating at Pu Pu Hot Pot and Sandy’s was still the shaggy, old, hound dog, protecting his territory.

There is a certain jaundice one acquires whilst residing in Boston. Whether it’s the deterioration of the Red Sox, maybe you’re the offspring of some legendary ship wreck or you're a direct descendent of the Cod Fish Aristocracy, the inherent sadness one wears here is unavoidable. Obdurate. That’s BOSTON.

The “Shawshank Treatment” I think they call it. If you swim through a Charles River length of shit and come out clean on the other side, you may be worthy of respect. Maybe. Still, you have to earn it and even then, there are no promises. Without that true test of durability, Boston marks you as absent. Perhaps that means one is slowly making an impact, even if it means you symbolize the kind of change some people hate.

TT the Bears Place is a great, GREAT venue. I still have to ask though, in fairness, how many mid- sized rooms can survive in such a small proximity to each other? Cambridge, is always going to be a Mecca for live, quality music. However, if Boston can't hold onto these performers, they will seek another location. What made these places great are the reasons why they are now trendy. You have to keep the arts supported in your community if you want your neighborhood to maintain that attraction. 

Do your part. Support the Arts.

M.O.T.O - live at the Midway. 5/9/15

This was such an awesome gig. M.O.T.O is a band that delivers punchy, in your face, rock n roll that is reminicent of The Ramones and early Black Flag. That's what it reminds me of anyway. Maybe even The Velvet Underground? Regardless, I'm not a critic. Just a fan of big and loud, tight, Rock music. What blew my mind about these totally unassuming, non pretentious, down to Earth musicians was their friendly and approachable demeanor. 

Whatever your tastes are, the sheer adroitness and prowess of their playing, the tightness AND looseness of the songs, it's hard not to be impressed. Each tune they did was on the average of about a minute and a half long, no epic psychedelia, long, drawn out, jams. Just quick jolts of juice and electric authenticity delivered with a drum set louder than a machine gun but in control and never losing tempo.

M.O.T.O was playing at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain for the 3rd annual "Joe Fest". A gig held in memorandum of writer and part time bar tender, Joe Coughlin. M.O.T.O. left everyone shaking with energy and verve. The band was mirroring the 'lightning rod' effect of bright impact, striking without warning -  then dissapearing back into the night.

If you hear of this band playing in or near New England, do yourself a BIG favor; duck into the club and see them. You won't be disappointed! 

  Ransom Note Productions is here to stay, just like Rock & Roll.

 We are striving to be the best when it comes to documenting your artistic performances. Capturing Live Music is our specialty. With the latest in portable technology, we will deliver to your audience, in stunning HD quality, the best of your creativity. Don’t put your iPhone on the amp in the practice room and rock out to crappy audio with shaky images. That SUCKS!! - AND it won't get you any gigs.

 Why not spend a little money and time to get the best videos of your band performing a live show or at your rehearsal space? At the studio, or wherever? With RNP, you will get close ups of guitar solos, facial expressions, guitar riffs right off the finger tips, personalities and communication between band members. All in perfect, digital sound. Your groupies, roadies, set ups, take downs and post show interviews.You will be profiled on The Ransom Note Podcast, extending your reach to an audience well beyond what you thought was possible. We will be your Rock ’n’ Roll reality TV Production House that will capture the essence of your creativity. There’s really nothing to it! All you have to do is tell us where to be and at what time. We will begin rolling when you arrive.

 RNP has been inspired by the last 75 years of music broadcasted around the world. We’ve seen so many shows, videos, rock ’n’ roll documentaries and listened to so many interviews and bands that we feel as if we know you already!  We’ve seen the dirtiest rehearsal spaces, been to the wackiest bars in the weirdest, rural towns to the big cities and stadiums. From mosh pit to coffee house, we can handle  pretty much anything when it comes to performance -art documentation. 

 Watch our videos and listen to our Podcasts. Read our 'Unreasonable Demands' Blog page. Check in with us and drop a line. Understand why Ransom Note Productions is here for your enjoyment and promotion. We will push you on every conceivable Social Networking site that you or we have at our disposal.

 THIS IS WHAT WE DO!  We want you to succeed. Plan your next gig with Ransom Note. Make a movie out of it and let us push it out there to the masses to gain a broader following. 

 Go to www.ransomnoteproductions.com and send us photos and poster images. Send us mp3 songs that we can expose to a broader public, not just to your friends. If you believe in what you do, then WE believe in you. 

 RNP.